In the past ground water remediation has been driven by the question "how clean can we get it." However, many remediation efforts have produced limited success, even though significant resources were invested. This has resulted in several changes in the environmental remediation climate. First, the driving force for remediation is shifting from "how clean can we get it" to "what do we need to do to make the risk acceptable." This Risk Based Corrective Action (RBCA) approach has altered remediation goals by asking what level of cleanup, if any, is necessary to protect potential receptors. RBCA will promote the development of new methods for addressing less contaminated sites. Second, advanced technologies for environmental remediation are evolving. One such technology is surfactant-enhanced soil remediation, which targets remediation of "source zone soils"; i.e., contaminated soils that are continuing to leach contaminants into the ground water even after the original source is removed. Reasons for these source zone soils are the presence of oil phases trapped by capillary forces (residual saturation--e.g., gasolines, chlorinated solvents) or highly contaminated soils due to strongly sorbing contaminants (e.g., PCBs, PAHs). By greatly increasing the aqueous contaminant concentrations this approach can significantly reduce the time of remediation and volume of fluid extracted. Another evolving technology is the use of passive remediation techniques. Passive remediation involves a one time alteration of the system (e.g., installation of a reactive, permeable materials into a trench through which the contaminants will flow). A permeable, sorptive surfactant wall is one example of a passive remediation technique.